Running to the finish or out of steam?

Posted at 11:57 PM on May 15, 2008 by Tom Scheck

Legislative leaders just went back in for behind closed door meetings at midnight.

DFL House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher said DFLers have met Governor Pawlenty's property tax cap of 3.9%. She also said their offer has $75 million a year in Local Government Aid and $30 million in direct property tax relief but she said Pawlenty ordered them to fix the spending for the out years ($155 million).

Kelliher said Pawlenty's demands make her feel like she's gone from running a mile to a 5k to a half marathon to a marathon. She said she didn't think the meeting would be too long since the next three days would be "very long ones."

Earlier in the night, GOP House Minority Leader Marty Seifert said DFLers were unwilling to make any cuts to Health and Human Services programs to pay for property tax relief. He also said the Health Care Reform bill is also back on the table with GOP input.

Seifert added that he had the votes to sustain an expected veto of the Education Finance Bill. He said it would be "nuclear war" if DFLers attempted the override in the last days of session.

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